The Super Human Functionality Project - how we create... Super Humans!
06 October 2024
But before we explain what it IS, What does it mean to BE "Super Human"?
Well in this case we aren't necessarily talking about having a super high "CrossFit"-capacity, or being able to do a Pro HYROX-Race in sub 1 hour - what we aim want to do is define being "Super Human" as "having beyond average human being capacity", because the reality is that most human beings these days are not very functional at all..
With a sedentary lifestyle and more time spent on the couch than outdoors we can objectively say that most people in the world these days are lacking capacity to live a truly exciting life, or even one that allows them to actually carry out every day tasks without a massive effort.
Now, we aren't trying to make anyone feel bad here, but we do want to CHANGE that!
And that's why we have built our highly sophisticated approach to combat this. The Super Human Functionality Project is built to TEST our members' capacity, and then allow them to TRAIN to make sure that they are targeting your INDIVIDUAL needs to become more Healthy & Fit for every day life!
Here's a few things we think a human being should be able to do to call them self Functional when it comes to every day LIFE:
- Pick up their grocery bags and carry them to the car & in to their homes in one go.
- Climb the stairs of "any" building without having to stop.
- Play with their kids outdoors, and for hours.
- Hike the epic mountains around us.
- Go for a 30min jog without having to stop.
- Get out of bed in the morning without pain.
In general none of those things sounds too hectic right? But can you do them..? We think that way too few of our fellow human beings can, which is why we train the way we do!
So how does that translate to your Functional Training with us?
When done right, your Functional Fitness program should give you the above capacity by simply strengthen your... FUNCTIONALITY! That's why we focus on simple movement patterns mainly, and by building capacity in various different areas of your fitness we can make you capable of living a more FUNctional life.
Here's some examples of what we have put on our HEALTH-level of our Super Human Functionality Project = what we think EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING should be able to do:
- DEADLIFT your body weight - will help you when you're picking up your couch, or your child.
- RUN 5km sub 30'00min - means you have a good base fitness, and can run away from the zombies when they come.
- Perform ONE Strict PULL UP - having a strong upper body helps a lot of every day movements, and allows you to climb mountains!
- Perform TWO Strict PUSH UPS - Similar to the above this means that you can get off the floor, and have a good strength base in your upper body.
- Carry 2x Kettle Bells (12kg for women, 16kg for men) 400m AND manage to get at least 15 Shuttle Runs of 7.5m each within a 7min window.
The latter is one of our "PEAK CrossFit Special Testers" and it's quite easy to see why we call it "GROCERY SHOPPING"..
NB: Read up on how these testers requirements grow harder with our tougher levels further down.
BUT, we also have some more "specific" test markers that might not be as easy to correlate to every day movement, but instead allows us to build HEALTHY and Strong human beings with less injury risk, and more capacity than those that might not focus on these things as much as we do - below are a few examples.
- Have a balance of 2:1 between PULL UPS & PUSH UPS (note the 2 Push Ups vs 1 Pull Up in the above Health-requirements).
This means that you have a good balance between pushing & pulling = less chance of shoulder injuries. - Perform 10 (or more) SINGLE LEG STEP UPS with 30% of your 1 Rep Max Back Squat in a Front Rack AND equally many reps on left vs right leg.
This means that you have a healthy one leg strength and balance between your two sides = less chance of knee/hip/lower back injuries, and for instance an adventure like walking up Lions Head becomes easier! - Perform equally many SINGLE ARM UPRIGHT ROWS and SINGLE ARM KNEELING PRESS with 33% of your Body Weight as you can do STRICT PULL UPS.
This means that you have a great balance in all movement patterns for your shoulders, many do not and that often leads to injuries or poor performance in various movements in the gym!
Now that we've defined what we believe you SHOULD be able to do, HOW do we intend to help you get there?
Firstly we need to figure out what YOU need, and we will do that with the most specific TESTING TEMPLATE that we have ever put together. In the test templates you will see that we will test several areas of human functionality and fitness, well beyond the above mentioned markers.
Overall our goal is to test your:
- STRENGTH, both with external loads and body weight strength.
- IMBALANCE between for instance your left leg and right leg strength, and also between for instance upper body pushing and pulling.
- CARDIO CAPACITY, with various time domains tested in the aerobic conditioning area.
- GYMNASTIC SKILLS, like climbing ropes, jumping on boxes, and at some point even more advanced movements.
- FITNESS, standard fitness tests as per above, but also some classic CrossFit "Benchmarks".
The cool thing is that all of the above will then be data that we can help to tailor certain workouts to your needs, and also something that you can then later on compare against to see your PROGRESS!
Use the CCF Members VIP Lounge to track your results, and see what "Level" you are currently at (click the image to get taken to the VIP LOUNGE for PEAK Members):
To make it even more FUN, and as a way to allow you to continue measuring your progress as you get stronger & fitter, we have also created 5 "Levels" where your results in the different areas will dictate what Level you are on in each specific test.
This will give you a great overview when it comes to your strengths and weaknesses = also give you a blue print to what you need to focus more on to become well-roundedly fit!
THE DIFFERENT "LEVELS"
- HEALTH: Self explanatory, this is the level we believe that you need to be able to clear to actually be considered being a healthy human being. This includes as an example the markers you saw above:
- Deadlift your body weight.
- Run 5k without stopping in sub 30'00min.
- Perform one strict Pull Up
- Perform two strict Push Ups
- Carry 2x Kettle Bells (12kg for women, 16kg for men) 400m AND perform at least 15x Shuttle Runs of 7.5m each within a 7min window. - FITNESS: This is the level when you are starting to be able to do a lot more FUNctional things than your neighbours, and also most likely enjoy outdoor activities more. Examples:
- Back Squat your body weight.
- Deadlift 1.5x your body weight
- Run 5k sub 27'30 minutes.
- Climb a rope.
- Perform 10 strict Push Ups
- Carry 2x Kettle Bells (Heavier as 16kg for women, 24kg for men) 400m AND perform at least 15x Shuttle Runs of 7.5m each within a 7min window. - PERFORMANCE: At this level your fitness is performance based and you can pull off any features that you face in your everyday life, and at the same time as an example complete the CrossFit "Open" as RX, or complete a HYROX Race in the PRO-division.
- Back Squat 1.5x your body weight.
- Deadlift 2x your body weight
- Run 5k sub 25'00 minutes.
- Climb a rope without using your legs (Legless).
- Perform 20 strict Push Ups
- Carry 2x Kettle Bells (16kg for women, 24kg for men) 400m AND perform at least 30x Shuttle Runs of 7.5m each within a 7min window.
[MOST HUMAN BEINGS NEVER NEED TO LOOK ANYWHERE FURTHER THAN THE ABOVE, BUT WE ALSO HAVE 2x "CROSSFIT-RELATED COMPETITION" LEVELS]
- COMPETITION: The markers we need to be able to do for instance local competitions RX and/or aiming at qualifying for a CrossFit Quarterfinals.
- ELITE ATHLETE: The levels we believe are required to reach the highest levels of CrossFit as a sport, i.e. Semi Finals or even the CrossFit Games (via Africa).
WHY DO MOST HUMAN BEINGS ONLY NEED THE FIRST 3 LEVELS?
MOST human beings need a General Physical Preparedness (GPP) that allows them to handle real life tasks, and if you ask us: the ability to explore the world around them through outdoor adventures.
That's why we are saying that most human beings do NOT need to push their levels any further than to our "PERFORMANCE"-level.
In fact, you could risk hurting yourself if you don't have ALL markers covered in the Performance Level but focus a lot on getting a few of your capacities into the Competition/Elite Athlete level as this will create an unhealthy Balance in your fitness.
We also believe that for most human beings, 1h of Functional Training per day 3-5x times per week is well enough to live a long and healthy life filled with adventures - training more than that is potentially taking away time from other things that can/should be important in your life* (like family, spending time outdoors, exploring new adventures and/or playing new sports!).
*NB: If you are however aiming to be a competitive CrossFit/HYROX athlete, you'll need to dedicate a lot more time than people that are using Functional Fitness to just enhance their lives outside of the gym - and just like in any sport, you might willingly sacrifice some "health" for a higher performance level in your chosen sport.
So here's what we recommend: first make sure that you cover the HEALTH-level in our Super Human Functionality Portal (PEAK Members can log their scores on our webpage under the VIP LOUNGE), This would mean that very few objects in your home, including your kids, will be too heavy to pick up and that you can run away from the zombies if needed.
